Grassley asks SEC if it has destroyed investigation files

The Hill reports:

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is looking into whether the Securities and Exchange Commission is engaged in the widespread destruction of files tied to matters once under investigation, as a department whistleblower claims.

In a letter sent to SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro on Wednesday, Grassley says an SEC attorney, Darcy Flynn, has come forward and claimed the agency destroyed evidence from preliminary investigations involving some of Wall Street's biggest firms, and even convicted Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff.